Microsoft Teams Quick Start Guide

• Getting started with Microsoft Teams
• Download and install the desktop client
• How to chat
• Create and manage a team
• Start a meeting
• File sharing
• Staying on top of things
• More about Teams

Getting Started with Microsoft Teams

Sign in to myTrent and go to Services, IT Services and click on Microsoft Teams. You can use Teams on the web via the portal but, for the best experience we recommend the desktop client.  

Please note: the Teams Calendar feature is currently not available to students

Download and Install the Desktop Client

To download the Teams desktop client, click the download icon at the bottom of the sidebar on the left. Then double-click the downloaded file in your Downloads folder to install.

How to Chat

Start chatting with a person or group - click Chat on the left sidebar, click New Chat at the top. Enter the name of the person or persons in the To field, compose your message below, attach a file to share if needed and click Send.

To add more people to an ongoing chat session, click Add people in the upper right.

Start chatting with a Team - click Teams on the left sidebar, select a team and channel. (Note: General is the default channel for all teams). Compose your message below, attach a file to share if needed and click Send.

Create and Manage a Team

To create a team - click Teams on the left sidebar then Join or create team in the upper left.

Click Create team.

Select the team type. Staff works well for most administrative and development activities.

Enter your team name and description.  Select your team privacy settings from the Privacy drop-down and click Next.

Enter the names of the people on your team and click Add.

When you're finished adding team members, click Close to complete the process and create the team.

Your new team site will have tabs across the top for team Posts (chat and uploaded files), shared Files, a Notebook and a plus sign to add more tabs and content.  All teams have a default General channel to get you started. You can create more of your own channels as shown in the next step.

Channels are used to organize and categorize content and all team members have access. These might be for a department, project, topic or committee. To add a channel, click the ellipsis (...) next to the team name and select Add channel. To add more team members, click Manage team. 

Enter your Channel name, Privacy setting and check  to Automatically show... if that is appropriate for the content. Click Add.

Click on your channel name to select it for targeted content (chat, files, meetings, tabs) only visible in that channel.

Start a Meeting

To start an impromptu meeting with a colleague you're chatting with click the Video call icon in the upper right of the chat window. (Note: camera and microphone required)

To start a meeting in a channel with team members, select a team and a channel then click Meet now icon under the messaging box and a prompt to join the meeting will pop-up in the channel window for other team participants to click and Join immediately.

File Sharing

To share a file with a colleague you're currently chatting with,  click Attach under the messaging box of the chat window, select a file location,the file(s) you want and click Send on the right. The uploaded file(s) will then be posted in your chat session where you can both view and edit it together.

To share a file with a team channel, select a team and channel then click Attach under the messaging box, select a file location, the file(s) you want and click Send on the right. The uploaded file(s) will then be posted in the channel where members can view and edit it simultaneously. A list of all files uploaded to a channel are available under the Files tab at the top.

Staying on Top of Things

Click Activity at the top of the sidebar on the left. Your Feed shows all your notifications and everything that has happened recently in the channels you follow. Click any item in the feed to jump directly to that event. 

To set up notifications for a channel, choose the ellipsis (...)  next to the channel name, then Channel notifications.

More About Teams

For more in depth training and how-to videos please see the following resources:

LinkedIn Learning - Microsoft Teams Essential Training

Microsoft - Teams How-to Videos